Manufacture of dead lay wire rope



DBC. 27, 1932. A, s RAlRDEN MANUFACTURE OF DEAD LAY WTRE ROPE Filed July1l. 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet Dec. 27, A, 5l RMRDEN MANUFACTURE OF DEAD LAYWIRE ROPE Filed July l1. 1927 45 Sheets-Sheet 2 Dec. 27, 1932. A. s.RAIRDEN 1,892,632

` MANUFACTURE OF DED LAY WIRE HOPE Filed July 11, 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet l3)vl/m55 Inventor.'

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Patented Dec. 27, 1932 PATENT OFFICE ALBERT S.RAIRDEN, 0F HAMDEN,CONNECTICUT MANUFACTURE OF DEAD LAY 'WIREy ROPE Application filed July11, 1927. Serial No. 204,916.

This invention relates to the manufacture of dead lay wire rope and moreparticularly to a novel method of and apparatus for manufacturing suchrope, and has for its object the provision of a novel method which maybe carried out on standard vertical rope laying machines by makingslight changes in the twisting heads thereof.

The apparatus for carrying out my novel method will be illustrated asembodied in a double deck vertical laying-up machine. However, it willbe understood that I do not wish to be limited thereto since it may bealso readily applied to horizontal or other types of Irope layingmachines.

ln the drawings- Figure 1 is a vertical sectional elevation through alaying-up machine constructed in accordance with, and for carrying outthe method of, this invention.

Figure 2 is a detail plan of the head portion of the machine.

Figure 3 is an elevation of the head portion of the machine.

Figure 4 is a sectional elevation through the head of the machine.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary plan illustrating the arrangement of drivegearing for the machine.

Figure 6 is a detailed sectional elevation through the lower end of themachine showing the gearing.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the numeral 2 designatesthe base of t-he machine which includes a bearing support 3 for thelower end of a vertical shaft or mast 4 which has an opening or bore 4athroughout its length, through which the core member 4b of the rope isadapted to be passed to the twister head.

The upper end of the shaft 4 is provided with a sleeve-head 5 to which aspider ring 6 is secured which serves as a strand guide and bending ringand also as a bearing for the upper end of the shaft.

The ring 6 is journaled in a support-ing bracket 7 which in turn issecured toany suitable supporting structure indicated at 8, suCh as thegirders of the building in which 50 the machine is housed.

A twister-head comprising a stem or plug portion 9, adapted to beinserted in the upper end of sleeve-head 5 and a disk portion 10, isprovided for twisting or laying the strand wires up around the core. Thetwister-head and sleeve-head 5 are both apertured in line with the bore411 of the shaft 4 to permit the core member of the rope to be passedcentrally therethrough.

The disk portion 10 of the twister-head is of a materially greaterdiameter than the ring 6, for a purpose to be described, and is alsoprovided with slots or grooves 12 in its peripheral edge to receive thestrand wires of the cable or rope. The bottom walls of the slots orgrooves 12 are inclined inwardly from bottom to top and said slots orgrooves are of such depth that their bottom walls will be spacedmaterially outward beyond the inner periphery of the ring 6.

Three spider rings 14 are secured at spaced intervals of the shaft 4 andform supports for a plurality of cradles or strand spool supports 15.The spaces between the rings 14 are what are known as bays or decks, andsince there are two of such spaces in the present embodiment of theinvention, the machine shown is known as a two-bay` or twodeck machine.

Spools 16 of strand wires or twisted strands 16e1 are journaled in thesupports 15 and the strands are trained from the spools 16 upwardlythrough the ring 6, then outwardly and into the respective slots 12 .inthe twister-head, and then are reversed inwardly to a central pointwhere they are laid around the core strand.

The point of lay is defined by a. die 18 carried by a cross-head 19adjustably mounted on a pair of threaded bars 20, which bars are mountedin the support 7. Nuts 21 are provided on the bars for locking thecrosshead in its vertical adjusted position.

The spool supports 15 are each journaled at their upper ends in thespider rings 14, and

' have their lower ends keyed to shafts 25. All

of the shafts 25 extend downwardly to a common level and are providedwith pinions 26 which are in mesh with idler pinions 27 on stubshafts'28 carried by the lower spider ring 14. All of the idler pinions27 are also in mesh with a common driveear 29 journaled on the shaft 4and provided with an extended collar portion 29a. A worm-wheel 29b iskeyed to the collar 29a and meshed with a worm 29c on a power shaft 30,whereby the gear 29 is operated so as to drive the pinions 27 and 26.The driving of the pinions 27 and 26 will cause a planetary motion to betransmitted to the spools to retain the spools in the same relativeplane with the central shaft 4 of the machine at all times.

The shaft 4 is provided with a ring-gear 30 which is in mesh with abevel pinion 31 on` a power shaft 32 whereby, when power is applied tothe shaft 32, the shaft or mast 4 will be rotated.

The finished rope passes from the die 18 over a sheave 35 and then to asuitable standard take-up and pull-out mechanism 36.'

In carrying out mynovel method, the core strand 4b is trained up throughthe bore 4a of the shaft or mast 5, and through the die 18.

The strands 16a will be trained upwardly from each of the spools 16,through the spiders 14 and through the ring 6, then outwardly andupwardly to the slots or grooves 12 in the deck portion 10 of thetwister-head, then said strands are trained on a reverse angle inwardlyand upwardly, andv through the die 18. From the die 18 the core 4a andstrands 16a are either trained over the sheave 35 and down to thetake-up and pull-out mechanism 36 or are secured to a lead cable whichin turn is secured to the take-up and pull-out mechanism 36. Thelaying-up machine and take-up and pull-out mechanism are then operated.The take-up and pull-out mechanism 36 will pull the core 4a and strands16a through the laying-up machine and the twister-head disk 10 will laythe strands spirally around the core member 4a.

As the strands 16a are pulled over the edge of the disk 10 of thetwister-head they are under tension due to the reverse bend at thispoint caused by passing the strands through the ring 6, then over thedisk 10 and then inwardly to the die. By passing or pulling the strandsover the edge of the disk 10 under tension and at the same timetransmitting a planetary motion to the spools 16 carrying the strands,so as to retain the spools in the same relative plane with the axis ofthe central shaft 4 and twister-head disk 10, the one and same side ofthe strands throughout the entire length of the strands will be workedor stretched by frictional contact with the disk 10, while the oppositeside of the strand will remain unstretched, thus setting up internalstresses which will cause the strands to coil or assume a helical shapeprior to laying up the strands.

The amount of stretch given to the strands is gaged so that the degreeof the helixes formed by the stresses is the same or substan- It will beunderstood that the above method i may be carried out on other forms oflayingup and stranding machines than that illustrated and described. Theessential feature being the provision of suitable mechanism whereby oneside of the strands in a rope, or wires in a strand may be stretchedrelative to the other side so that internal stresses will be set up insaid strands or wires to cause said strands or wires to assume a helicalshape prior to laying up of the strands or stranding of the wires.

I claim- 1. In a dead lay rope machine for laying up' dead lay wirerope, a central hollow shaft through which the core is adapted to bepassed, a plurality of strand spools carried by and rotatable with saidshaft, a twister-head secured to one end of said shaft, a combined guideand bending ring secured to said shaft at a\point slightly below saidhead, said ring being of materially less diameter than said head, and adie adjustably mounted above said head.

2. In a dead lay rope machine for laying up dead lay wire rope, acentral hollow shaft through which the core is adapted to be passed, aplurality of strand spools carried by and rotatable with said shaft,means for transmitting a planetary motion to said spools to retain saidspools in the same relative plane with said central shaft throughout therotation of said central shaft, a twister-head secured to one end ofsaid shaft, a combined guide and bending ring secured to said shaft at apoint slightly below said head, said ring being of materially lessdiameter than said head, and a' die adjustably mounted above said head.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

ALBERT S. RAIRDEN,

